Getting Back on Track: Recovering to Running
So my last post on running was a while back and I was discussing an injury. The final diagnosis was a herniated disc with a pinched nerve. Fun times! May was a hard month, especially coming off my personal best of running a half-marathon in 2:03.
I was able to start running in June but I had to take it easy. For the first half of June there was pain that accompanied the running. Additionally, June was just a very busy month for work and having to do the doctor shuffle only added to it. July was also busy with work and teaching. However, in both months, I managed to do over 80 miles, so I'm happy with that. 80 miles is still a distance that there are upwards of decades where I did not accumulate that much running--so I'll take it!
After the diagnosis in late June and a regiment of physical therapy that went on over June and July, the doctor gave me the go-ahead at the end of July to return to training. During June and July, I did not do more than 6.5 miles on most occasions. I went up to 7 once or twice. However, now that we're gearing up to see if completing the Bay State Marathon is possible, it's back to training for me. I talked with Dave, my coach at Breakthrough Performance Coaching and we started up slow--trying to get me back up to the longer distances I was used to before.
This past weekend I had my first real long run in a while: a 1.5 hour/9 mile run. In some ways, it felt intimidating because it had been so long since running it, but in other ways, it felt like an old friend. In fact, while I took the first six miles at a light pace, just trying to endure, I decided to push myself the last three miles of it and found that I actually managed to do under 9 minute miles. Given that I had been happy with anything under 10 minutes, I was ecstatic to see the mileage ringing in around the 8:50s.
It's 9 weeks or so until the Bay State Marathon. I believe I will be in good enough shape to complete it but I'm not sure I will be doing anything better than what I did last year. I'm slightly frustrated by this because given all that I've been putting into running, I feel like not being able to improve upon this is somehow a failure. I know it's not, but of course, my Doubt Demon loves to prey upon such insecurities.
Regardless, I'll continue to slay the Doubt Demon, get back in my Vibrams, and keep running. After all, any miles complete is a victory. I'll keep you posted as I continued with the miles. And speaking of which, even if I do not accomplish my 4 hour marathon, or 2 hour half-marathon (though I've damn close!), I'm within 300 miles of hitting my 1000 miles for 2014. In terms of mileage, I'm close to where I was last year at the end of the year and I've still got 4 good months of fall running!
I was able to start running in June but I had to take it easy. For the first half of June there was pain that accompanied the running. Additionally, June was just a very busy month for work and having to do the doctor shuffle only added to it. July was also busy with work and teaching. However, in both months, I managed to do over 80 miles, so I'm happy with that. 80 miles is still a distance that there are upwards of decades where I did not accumulate that much running--so I'll take it!
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| Getting back on them tracks! |
This past weekend I had my first real long run in a while: a 1.5 hour/9 mile run. In some ways, it felt intimidating because it had been so long since running it, but in other ways, it felt like an old friend. In fact, while I took the first six miles at a light pace, just trying to endure, I decided to push myself the last three miles of it and found that I actually managed to do under 9 minute miles. Given that I had been happy with anything under 10 minutes, I was ecstatic to see the mileage ringing in around the 8:50s.
It's 9 weeks or so until the Bay State Marathon. I believe I will be in good enough shape to complete it but I'm not sure I will be doing anything better than what I did last year. I'm slightly frustrated by this because given all that I've been putting into running, I feel like not being able to improve upon this is somehow a failure. I know it's not, but of course, my Doubt Demon loves to prey upon such insecurities.
Regardless, I'll continue to slay the Doubt Demon, get back in my Vibrams, and keep running. After all, any miles complete is a victory. I'll keep you posted as I continued with the miles. And speaking of which, even if I do not accomplish my 4 hour marathon, or 2 hour half-marathon (though I've damn close!), I'm within 300 miles of hitting my 1000 miles for 2014. In terms of mileage, I'm close to where I was last year at the end of the year and I've still got 4 good months of fall running!
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